OC Transpo ridership hits 66 per cent of pre-pandemic levels in 2023

OC Transpo saw a bump in ridership on buses and the O-Train in 2023, but new statistics show ridership continues to struggle since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The transit service reported on Thursday that there were 64.2 million customer trips on public transit in 2023, up from 50.3 million passenger trips in 2022.

The Transit Commission was told the 2023 ridership figures were 66 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, with O-Train ridership at 50 per cent of pre-pandemic levels and bus ridership at 70 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.

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OC Transpo saw 5.8 million passenger trips in December, with ridership peaking above 6 million trips in September (6.6 million), October (6.4 million) and November (6.6 million).

In a memo to council earlier this week, Transit Services general manager Renee Amilcar said transit ridership is not expected to recover "further than 75 per cent of pre-pandemic levels in the immediate future."

"The most recent update to the Transit Long Range Financial Plan estimates it may take up to 10 years before ridership fully recovers, closing the revenue gap," Amilcar said. "This loss of ridership has created a permanent gap in OC Transpo’s annual funding at the same time as operational costs are increasing."

OC Transpo is projecting a $49.8 million budget deficit in 2024.

On Tuesday, Amilcar announced 35 positions have been eliminated to help reduce costs. The transit service will also reduce bus service by 74,000 hours this year as part of an overhaul of the bus route network.  Staff aid the changes are designed to improve service along with "important routes and connections to commercial and employment destinations."

Grade 10 student Kenney Vanderlinde says she felt compelled to speak at Thursday’s Transit Commission meeting to share what she and other students face while trying to get to school.

"Since the beginning of the school year, I have been late more often than not, because the bus does not come to the stop on time. Because of this I wake up every morning stressed that I won’t get to school on time. Most days I walk into class late and I miss important information," she says. 

Vanderlinde commutes from Centretown to Canterbury High School every morning. She uses the LRT to get to Hurdman station and then transfers to a bus, typically 40 Elmdale or 40 Canterbury to get to the school. She says the trip usually takes about an hour but it is often more.

"Transit isn’t working as it should be, and it needs to improve for everyone in the city, because it isn’t just students it affects - it is everyone," says Vanderlinde. 

OC Transpo’s general manager says she will focus on the bus network and the issues around reliability. 

"When I first arrived two years ago, the train as we know and we had a lot of problems, the focus on my team was on the train,” Amilcar said at Thursday's Transit Commission meeting.

"We have to address the problems that we have and now I can but my energy in and work with my team who is wiling to work on them too, because we want to be the best in the world," said Amilcar. 

Amilcar says more cuts are not expected in the near future.

"We still rely on the province to help us. We will continue at OC Transpo to improve the way we are doing things. That doesn’t mean we will need to lay off people, but we probably need less people to do new things because we are reviewing everything, every process and I think it is important, and for sure we will need some help."

Bus cancellations in December

OC Transpo says 260 out of 8,158 scheduled bus trips were not delivered every day in December.

Statistics show 97.7 per cent of bus trips were delivered during the final month of 2023.

The Transit Commission was told the reason for most bus trip cancellations include not enough operators, on-street service adjustments, mechanical breakdowns and no buses available.

The three most affected bus routes in December were the O-Train Line 2 replacement bus service, Route 12 and Route 11:

• O-Train Line 2 replacement bus service: 332 undelivered trips
• Route 12: 193 undelivered trips
• Route 11: 183 undelivered trips

With files from CTV News Ottawa's Leah Larocque